Local businessman David Higginbotham and five other civic-minded people spoke to about 35 guests Saturday evening at a wine-and-hors d'oeuvre gathering at the Gibson Mansion. Higginbotham is running as a Democrat for House District 60 against incumbent Republican Jim Wilson in the November election.

"The qualified aren't always willing, but the willing can always be qualified," Higginbotham said. "I'm here to become qualified."

Higginbotham said he wants to establish contacts in the community that will help him in writing legislation — citizen contacts other than lobbyists, not all of whom are bad, he pointed out.

"My job is to represent the people of District 60," he said.

The four-county district includes Fremont, Custer, Chaffee and Park counties.

"This is where the biggest population is," Higginbotham said of Fremont County.

Al Cordova, former chairman of Fremont County Democrats, introduced Higginbotham as someone he has recently come to know and appreciate, someone who is not a typical political candidate.

"David Higginbotham is a well-organized person who has done an awful lot of research about what is needed in this state," Cordova said.

Also speaking at the soiree were special guests Sen. Irene Aguilar, MD; Lloyd Harwood of Harwood Funeral Home and the Cañon City School Board; Dale Mullen of Mullen Telecommunications Service in Westcliffe, Dr. Cindy Parker, on faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Tammi Hartung, owner of certified organic Desert Canyon Farm.

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"We need a voice in Denver that's not afraid to speak for us," Hartung said, coming from the viewpoint of small business owners.

Hartung reminded guests that Fremont County was once the fruit basket of southern Colorado and beyond, a heritage built upon small farms.

"When you have a small business, you employ local people," she said. "Those people spend money in that community supporting other small businesses."

People sharing and helping each other in small business is key, Hartung said.

"That's happening here in our county, but we need a voice," she said.

Higginbotham said he wants to get to know his base supporters in the area and find out what they really want. He's not looking to draw party lines.

"I'm not really a politician, per se," he said. "I think partisanship is more destructive than it is helpful for us."

Owner of Mountain Plumbing and Heating for the past 16 years, Higginbotham said he has enjoyed serving the community.

"As a plumber in town, I've done work for everybody," he said.

One of things he's learned through the years is that everyone has good ideas.

"I've met a lot of people and they were in crisis," he said. He's enjoyed helping them and wants to continue that outreach politically.

"I've been in altruistic endeavors a dozen years," he said, and got "a great deal of joy and satisfaction helping people and making a difference in the world."

Higginbotham said he considers himself to be more liberal than Jim Wilson, who currently holds the House District 60 seat.

"There are two kinds of people: yo-yos and WITTs — we're in this together," Higginbotham said. He considers himself in the second group.

Issues important to Higginbotham are bolstering schools, improving the lives of the elderly and eliminating the marginalization of any social or ethnic group

But his biggest target is health care.

A 2012 injury provided him with a different perspective.

"I got a good look at the health-care system right now," he said. "Something has to change."

Higginbotham believes health care should not be treated like a commodity.

"It's going to visit every single one of us," he said. "I'm a capitalist, but there's just certain things capitalism shouldn't have."

He believes health care is one of them.

Higginbotham's campaign manager, Melanie Sharp, said she was pleased with the Saturday evening turnout.

"Many, many took signs for their yards," she said. "I think it was a success."

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